Welcome Home
by The Sentinel 111
Summary: Ellie is a sentinel in the brotherhood's ranks. She leads an example for the younger and newest members. She is one of the brotherhood's greatest assets. However, when she gets a certain assignment from the elder, it could prove to be a challenge that could not only end her life, but it could also make her wonder if she can protect those around her as well. (Takes place after the
1. Welcome Home: prologue

I can feel it. The heat, the radiation. Even on top of the tallest building in the commonwealth, the effect is still the same. I watched the explosion of the institute take place. All of the commonwealths fears were laid to rest in my one motion. I caused their downfall. I killed the kidnappers, murderers, and synth enthusiast of the commonwealth. I should be celebrating. But, I'm not. All I feel is the heat. All I feel is the radiation. All I feel, is the guilt. Not only do I feel guilty for murdering innocent lives, but I feel angered at my decision to kill my son along with them.

I tried to reason with him. Told him that he could live with me. That we could be a family again. That I could tell him about before the war. About how things were better. But, he refused. He looked at me with so much disgust, hating me for what I had decided to do. And now, I hate myself for it.

"Paladin." Elder maxson said.

I shakily turned around and looked at him.

"Good work. Now the commonwealth can be free from the menace that was known as the institute. But that does not mean that our job here is done. We have much to do here still." He pauses. He looks at me and I can almost spot the look of sympathy in his eyes, but then, his look hardens a little. "But, We can discuss such matters at another time. Why don't you get some rest and patch yourself up. Come and find me when you're ready." He says. He nods his head in my direction and salutes me in silence. He gets into a vertibird and flies in the direction of the predwyn.

I turn around and look at the smoldering crater that was the old c.i.t. Building, Otherwise known as the institute, My son's false home. I advert my gaze away from the crater and make my way to the elevator. I push the button that will take me to the ground floor and wait for it's slow decent. The elevator jolts and slowly makes it's way back to the earth.

The memories come rushing back. Me and nate getting married. Him getting sent off to war. Me finding out that I was pregnant a week later. Me having my son in the absence of my husband. Bringing shaun back to an empty house. Nate coming home and seeing him for the first time. The smile on his face was as wide and as bright as the sun. Shaun giggling at nate making funny faces at him. The morning before the bombs dropped, nate wanted me and shaun to go to the park with him. He loved us so much.

 _What would he think of my decision to kill our son?_

I come back to reality and see that I had sunken to the floor and tears were rolling down my face.

 _What have I done?_

I hoist myself off of the floor. Synth components and dead brotherhood soldiers litter the floor. When I pass a fallen brother or sister, I take their holotags and salute them to remember and honor their service and contribution to this battle. I leave the building and get in a vertibird waiting for me outside. I tell them to take me to sanctuary, my home, and drop me off there.

We touch down in sanctuary and I jump off of the vertibird. I wave to the lancer and he takes off. I walk down the street and people look to me in anticipation. I look to the ground as I walk and don't look them in the eyes. I am looking for one person and I know exactly where to find him. I walk to the trading depot at the circle and head to the bar. I see robert maccready sitting at a barstool having a conversation with the bartender. I head over to the bar and take a seat beside him.

"Bottle of whiskey please." I ask the bartender. He places a bottle on the counter and I take a swig from the bottle and feel the fire go down my throat.

"So, i'm guessing it didn't go well?" Robert asks.

I sigh and shake my head no. Tears threaten to come falling down but I hold them in and get up from the seat. I pay the bartender and take my bottle. I walk in the direction of my house and hear robert follow me. I walk inside and slowly make my way to the bedroom but fall short at the sight of my baby boy's old room. It's ruined now. The crib is falling apart, parts of the wall are missing, but have been renovating it in the hopes of finding my baby and bringing him home. I was too late however. By the time I found him, he looked older than me. He had been taken from me and nate in the vault by the institute. Nate was shot by the institutes hired gun and they refroze me for another 60 years until I woke up again just recently.

I fall to my knees and look at the ruined baby room. Old toys are placed on the decrepit shelves on the wall. A baby blue rug with rockets on it is placed under the crib and a chair is in the corner. I fumble to my feet and walk into the room and pick up the teddy bear from the shelf.

 _"What are you doing on the floor mr.bear?"_ I hear nate say in my head.

I throw the bear across the room and turn to the shelves and start to tear the toys from the shelf and onto the floor. I flip the chair in the corner and finally push the crib over on it's side before finally falling to the floor and breathing heavily. I fumble through my things before finding the holotape labeled 'anniversary'. I put it in my pip-boy and hit

 _'No, little fingers away...there we go.' I hear nate's voice say. 'Hi honey. Look, I don't think shaun and I need to tell you how great of a mother you are. You are kind, and loving, and funny, that's right, and patient, so patient. Patience of a saint, as your mother used to say._

 _Look, with all of us at home together, it's been an amazing year. But even so I know our best days are yet to come. There will be changes, sure. I'll rejoin the civilian work force and you'll shake the dust off your law degree. But no matter what we do, no matter how hard, we do for our family._

 _Now, shaun can you say bye bye? Say bye bye." Nate asks and shaun giggles. "Haha. Bye honey. We love you."_ He says and the recording cuts off.

 _We do for our family._

I hear those words play over and over in my head as I watch the explosion replay in my head. I feel warm hands wrap around me and carry me into my bedroom. Maccready sets me down on the bed and looks at me with a worried expression.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asks.

"No. I'm not ready." I say. I look to the floor and sigh. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"Okay. Well why don't you lay down and rest. You need it." He says.

I nod and take my armor off. I take off my brotherhood of steel uniform and put on a plain white shirt and military pants and climb into the bed. Maccready climbs in beside me and I close my eyes. I think about what has happened today. I participated in a war, watched good soldiers die in front of me, and destroyed the institute, along with my son, in one day. I am ashamed that so much death has happened because of me. I need to get away. I need to find a place to be alone for a while.

My mind starts to slip out of consciousness and I soon fall asleep.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

I wake up and feel maccready's arms wrapped around me. I wipe my eyes and see that the sun has barely risen. Carefully I get out of the bed and put my brotherhood uniform on and grab my things. I look back at maccready and plant a kiss on his forehead. Then, I take the ring hanging from my neck by a chain off and leave it on the nightstand. I then, walk out of the door and don't look back. I twist my own ring around my finger and walk straight out of the settlement.

Where am I going? I'm not quite sure. But, what I do know is that I need some time to think. So i'll walk until I cannot walk anymore. I'll wander the wastes looking for my purpose in this world and hopefully, my redemption. Hopefully, I can find it within myself to forgive myself for what I have done.

But war...war never changes...


	2. Welcome Home: Chapter 1

1 Year Later...

I am in an abandoned building in the outskirts of the commonwealth. I stopped to rest here 1 year ago today, and I never left. For some reason, this little shitty shack in the middle of nowhere was a blessing. Maybe it was because there was an abundance of crops, plenty enough to sustain myself. Or, maybe it was because the furniture has stayed pretty decent, even after all these years. But I think it was because it was secluded, and peaceful. There is no one to bother me, and nothing that will cause me to worry. I feel as if I belong. But at the same time, i'm still lost.

Even after a year of telling myself that it's okay to stay here for the rest of my life, I still catch myself wondering what's missing. All this time and I still feel as if something is missing. I have come to terms with my husbands death and my son's. I know both of them will always be in my heart no matter what and that nothing could have prevented them from dying. But even with that in mind, something is still missing.

I break out of my mental monologue and get up from my seat on the porch. I walk over tho the garden and pick some produce and head inside to cut it up. I eat my lunch and walk over to my bed and start to clean my armor. I was recently in a shootout with raiders when mirelurks showed up and after a while, I finally eradicated those monstrosities. I decide that my armor wasn't going to get too clean when I hear one of my noise traps go off. I grab my plasma castor and carefully go to the door. I open it with my gun raised when a bright light blinds me. Then, I get shot in the leg with a laser rifle. A fall to the floor and grip my leg and groan in pain. Fire courses through my veins and I scream in agony. I look at my leg would and see burned flesh covering my leg and smoldering. I look up and see a brotherhood knight exit their power armor.

As quickly as I can with my now injured leg, I get up and grab my plasma-castor and load a cartridge in it and point my gun at the brotherhood knight. His headlamp on his armor is still on so his body is cast in shadow impairing the image of his face from me. My squinted eyes watch him carefully as he lays his rifle on the ground and stays crouched to the ground. I can see his face a little more clearly now. His face is angular and he has a goatee and mustache. There is a long scar that starts just above his left eyebrow and reaches down his eye and cheek and stops just under the center of his bottom lip. His brown hair is cut on both sides and is kept long but combed back on the top as is the standard hair cut in the brotherhood for men.

His eyes study me just as mine study him. We both are careful not to make any sudden moves as the other might attack on an instant. However, he takes a move toward me, something I would never do. I may love the brotherhood with all my heart, but i'm not stupid. I've been out too long. If I make a wrong move, he will kill me out of fear if nothing else.

I watch him as he slowly makes his way towards me, calculating every move, careful not to make a mistake. He finally reaches my gun and I am as tense as someones ass cheeks when they see a super mutant suicider. My finger instantly goes to the trigger and he stops. He takes a breath and holds it as he lifts his hand to the end of my gun and makes me lower it.

I let out my breath that I was holding in and lower the gun to the ground. I cannot kill him. I will not. He is my brother, not matter how long i've been out. What kind of a person would I be if I murdered him anyways? He gave me no reason to kill him. Each move he took was non-hostile. I sit down on my butt and take a few breaths to slow my heart rate.

I hear him let out a breath as well and he gets to his feet. I look up at him and he acts as if he wants to walk to me but quickly moves to his power armor and enters it before speaking.

"Are you the sentinel?" He asks.

"I'm sorry but no. I'm only a paladin. You must be mistaken." I say.

He stomps over to me in his power armor and takes out a stimpack and some medical tape and wrap and hands them to me. I gratefully take them and inject the healing medicines from the stimpack around my burn before wrapping it carefully and precisely. I try to stand but have a hard time. The knight helps me up and I nod my head to him in appreciation.

"I'm sorry." The man says.

"Yea well, next time you'll have to kill me. Because I won't hold back from killing you." I say seriously.

"Yea, sorry about that. I thought you were a ghoul for a second. I never meant to hurt you." He says with sympathy and with a caring tone.

"Yea well, just look next time youngin'. Looks like you got a lot to learn." I say sitting down on the bed.

"What the hell are you doin' up here anyway?" I ask him.

"Well I was on a mission to find you. You may not know it but you are the sentinel of the brotherhood now. The day the institute fell was when you were supposed to be promoted but you went home and after that, no one could find you." He says trailing off and looking away.

"Yea well, there were some things I needed to think over." I told him picking up my armor and cleaning it as I was before he came.

"Oh? And you couldn't tell anyone where you were going?" He asked with annoyance in his tone.

"Well what the fuck does it matter to you?! Were you there? Did you see what I saw? Have you done the things that I've done?!" I yelled looking at him and taking my attention off of the armor.

"No, I wasn't, and I haven't. But I should have been there." He says with a hint of regret in his tone.

"Yea well it wasn't something you necessarily want to witness. We lost a lot of good men that day." I say trailing off. I shake my head and return my attention to the armor. "But never mind that. Go tell maxson that i'll return when I feel up to it." I tell him.

"And when will that be?" He demands.

"I don't know! Maybe never! But that's for me to know and for y'all to find out." I say.

"I can't accept that. You have to come back. There are people back there that miss you...more than you'll ever know." He says almost silently.

"Yea? Like who?" I demand from him.

He hesitates before answering, "well, you have your son. He's been at the predwyn for the year you've been gone. He sure does miss you ellie." He says with sadness in his voice.

"How in the fuck do you know my name?" I ask him.

"Oh, uh, it was in your file." He said nervously.

I eye him up and down knowing that he was lying. "I'm calling bullshit on that one." I say.

"Well look, never mind that, all I'm saying is that you have people who love you with all their might that want you home. You need to stop running from your problems and come home!" He yells in frustration.

I sigh in frustration, "Fine, i'll go, but i'm going to see my son again. Not for anything else. I still have things I need to sort out." I tell the knight.

He lets out a breath he was holding in. "Okay, grab your things and lets go." He tells me.

"Okay, just give me a minute." I tell him.

He nods and leaves the house.

I gather all my things and put on my brotherhood uniform and armor and load my plasma-castor before I go outside to meet him. My limp easing up because of the stimpak.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Yup." I say walking away and him following close behind, "but if you ever talk about my son again, then I will kill you." I tell him.

"Well, that's nice to know." He says.

I smirk but don't allow him to see it. We then begin our long journey back home.


	3. Chapter 2

We have been walking in the wastes for a few hours now and we've only managed to make it to tempines bluff. The sun started to go down so we both agreed to stay overnight.

When we arrived, the place was completely empty. Everyone that used to live here left and I was faced with the guilt of me not being here. Had I been here maybe they would have stayed. But they're gone.

I turn to see the knight placing sleeping bags down for us to use for tonight. I walk over and set my stuff down against the wall.

"Thank you." I tell him.

"don't mention it." He says.

I sit down on my sleeping bag as he awkwardly stands in front of me.

"Well are you going to get out of that power armor and rest or what?" I ask him.

"No, I'm going to keep watch." He says determined.

I chuckle, "oh, okay. Just go with no sleep and see where that gets you," I say.

"It's my choice." He says and walks outside and stands at the end of the steps.

"Well, while we're sitting here, why don't we get to know each other. If i'm going to travel with you I at least want to know your name." I say.

He chuckles, "okay, the names rick." He says.

"Huh, well rick, you got a last name?" I ask him.

He sighs, "it's uh, calvin." He says.

"Rick calvin. Okay calvin, how long have you been in the brotherhood?" I ask him.

"Well, just about a year." He tells me.

"Oh, you join because you heard about the institute being destroyed?" I ask him.

He sighs, "somethin' like that." He says.

"Oh." I say. I grab a can of pork n' beans out of my bag and throw it towards him. "Eat up." I tell him.

"I'm not hungry." He says.

"Look man, you gotta eat." I tell him.

"Well, i'm just not hungry. Thanks anyway." He says as he stands guard.

I sigh and pull out a can for myself and start to eat it. As I'm eating, I notice that he has a sniper laser rifle. Most brotherhood soldiers only use average ranged rifles. I smirk knowing that I'm not dealing with any regular knight.

By the time I finish eating, the sun has set. I lay down and look at the sky through a hole in the roof. I smile when I spot the constellation orion.

"Hey, look up at the sky." I say to rick.

He looks up at the sky but remains quiet.

"Do you see orion?" I ask him.

"What's orion?" He asks looking at me.

I chuckle, "oh yeah, I forgot that most don't know about constellations. Well in the sky, the stars make pictures, and with those pictures are normally stories. Well the one that I can see right now is orion, which is the one with the three stars in a row, orions belt, and the four main stars that surround it, which makes up his body. Then there is his club in one hand and an animal pelt in another. The story is that orion is an amazing hunter who killed all these different things, including ursa major which is the big dipper, and he is always followed by his two hunting dogs. But I can't find those too easily." I explain to him.

"Huh, how'd you know all that?" He asks curiously.

"I took astronomy in high school. It's very interesting." I tell him.

He chuckles, "well, you'll have to explain it to me sometime." He says.

"Yea, some of that stuff will really blow your mind." I tell him.

He nods in agreement.

"So," I say after a few minutes of silence, "I was wondering if you've heard from someone that I know." I say.

"Depends, who is it?" He asks.

"Well, his name is maccready to most people. We're...dating? I don't really know about that now but I was just wondering if he has been looking for me. There's no doubt that he would have come to y'all to see if you guys knew anything." I say.

He sighs before answering, "um, yea. He came to us." He answers.

"Well, what did he say?" I ask.

"He uh, he said that you were the love of his life and that he would never stop looking for you. He said he would do anything to find you." He told me.

I sit on his answer for a moment before replying, "oh." I simply say.

"Did you love him?" He asks me.

"Well, yes. He is an amazing, caring, loving person." I tell him.

"Then why did you leave?" Calvin asks me.

I sigh in frustration, "I was trying to figure things out for myself. But now I'm not so sure if that was the right decision. Maybe I should have stayed." I say.

"Yea, I think he would have been able to help at least a little bit. He really missed you." Calvin says.

 _Missed_? I think to myself.

"Missed? Why did you say it like he's gone now or something?" I ask him.

"What?" He asks me confused.

"You said missed as if he were gone." I tell him.

"Oh did I? I didn't mean anything by it." He says trying to explain himself.

"Yea well if anything has happened to him then there will be hell to pay." I say turning on my side.

I hear him sigh and I just roll my eyes. I close my eyes and soon fall asleep.

VVVVVVVVVVVV

The next morning me and Calvin pack up our things and head back out. On the way out I see a recently opened pork n' beans can on the ground and smirk to myself.

We continue walking for a few hours until off in the distance we hear talking. We both look over and see and old military outpost with gunners in it.

"Gunners." Calvin says.

"Yup, those are gunners. Let's keep moving." I say as I walk away.

"No, we can't leave them alive." He says frustrated.

"And we can't go around killin' everyone we see neither. Let's go Calvin, it's not worth the bullets." I say.

"Yes it is! We can go take em' out real quick!" He says raising his voice.

"No it's not! We have no reason to go over there and kill em' now do we?!" I say raising my voice just as much.

"Yes we do! They're as- erm...they're a bunch of jerks who take what they want and don't give a crap about anyone else!" He yells.

"But these jerks haven't given us a reason to believe we should attack them! Now we need to move before they do." I tell him.

"But they'll just keep attacking people!" He says as i'm walking.

"Only if they're provoked! Now as your commanding officer I order you to stand down knight calvin!" I say spitting the words out.

"Fine." He says through gritted teeth.

We begin to walk towards the predwyn again, "now in the future you should start to thi-" I said before a bullet flies in front of my face.

"Shit." I mutter under my breath, "get down!" I yell as a shower of bullets makes it's way towards us. We take cover behind a truck with a trailer and wait for the right moment to retaliate.

"My bad!" Calvin yells towards me.

I roll my eyes and begin to fire. A few minutes passes by with just us shooting at each other, me and Calvin taking down a few at a time, but it barely makes a dent in their forces.

"We have to retreat! There's too many!" I yell.

"Okay! What's the plan?!" Calvin yells.

"Run!" I yell. I run away using trees and cars as cover and hear Calvin and some gunners following me. We get at least 20 yards away when I feel a searing pain in my side and then in my arm. I wince in pain and clutch my side and let my arm dangle. My plasma castor drops and I turn around to grab it and see at least ten gunners running towards us. But before they can do anything, I feel metal arms pick me up and carry me away. Calvin carries me into an abandoned town and ducks into the nearest building. We hear the gunners run past us and we both relax.

Calvin walks upstairs and gently places me on the ruined bed.

"We need to patch those wounds up." He says.

I nod but feel my eyes get heavy. Exhaustion from the loss of blood and the fight itself take over my body and pull me under the domain of unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 3

I wake up in the bed from last night. Calvin is out of his power armor but has a combat helmet on with sunglasses. He is sleeping on a chair across from me. I slowly test getting up but feel no pain. He must have given me a stimpak.

"Geez." I say as I slowly get up, "what the hell happened?" I ask.

He jolts awake and looks at me with surprise and relief, "Ellie, you're awake!" He says and scoots closer to me.

"Yea, I am. What happened?" I ask again.

"You got shot." He says.

"Gee, thanks for the bedside manners forest gump." I say.

"What?" He asks with a chuckle.

 _That laugh...it seems familiar. I think to myself but then shake the thought away, nah, I'm sure there are plenty of people with a generic kind of laugh like Calvin's._

"Nothin'." I say.

We sit in silence for a moment before he suddenly stands and walks over to our things and searches through them until he finds a can of purified water and brings it to me.

"Here, drink up." He says.

"Thanks." I say and drink the water thirstily.

We sit in silence yet again, but Calvin just watches me as if at any second, I might explode.

"I'm fine now you know." I say.

"I know, I know. It's just...I want to make sure you're okay. You were nearly killed because of me." He says with sadness in his voice.

"But i'm fine now. Seriously, don't worry." I say.

He nods.

"You're still going to watch me like a hawk aren't you?" I ask him with a smirk on my face.

"Yup." He says.

I shake my head and continue to drink the water. Once I finish my water and then go gather my things. I see that my castor has been put beside my bag and look at him.

He shrugs, "couldn't leave it behind now could we?" He asks.

I shake my head and smile.

VVVVVVVVVVVV

We walk for the rest of the day. We walk past many different settlements that have either exploded with life or have been completely abandoned during my leave, reminding me of my influence on the wasteland.

 _But you abandoned them._ I think to myself. I shake my head and try to clear those thoughts from my mind. _It can't all be blamed on you._ I tell myself.

Finally, after hours of walking in silence and having an internal battle with myself, we reach diamond city, where we have decided to rest, much to my displeasure.

 _Too many of my demons to face here._

"Why don't you just call a vertibird?" I ask Calvin.

"Because, someone's been dying to see you again." He says.

We walk inside the gates and down the stairs and I already know who he's talking about.

"Piper!" I holler at her in joy.

 _Okay, it's not all bad coming back here,_ I tell myself.

She's sitting at power noodles, enjoying a bowl of their world famous when she hears me call her name. When she turns around, her face shows complete disbelief.

"Blue?" She asks.

"The one and only." I say with a smirk.

She slowly gets up and walks towards me. I open my arms to accept the hug I know she'll give me, when instead, she slaps me hard across the face.

"What the hell?!" She yells.

I hold my now stinging cheek, "me what the hell? What about you what the hell?" I say.

"Where have you been?" She asks.

"Nowhere in particular." I say.

"Ladies." A guard says as he walks up to us, "I'm gonna have to ask you to calm down and take this conversation elsewhere. You're disturbing everyone else's peace." He tells us.

I look around and see that everyone hasn't noticed us at all. In fact, they are talking louder than us.

"Yea, wouldn't want to disturb their peace all right." I say sarcastically.

Piper shakes her head, "come on smartass. You too tinman." She says.

She drags me to home plate and shoves me inside and leaves Calvin to close the door.

"So," she says once we are alone, "explain yourself."

"I needed to get away." I told her.

"Oh get away huh?" She says.

"Yes, I couldn't stay here. Not with these ghosts haunting me. I couldn't bare it." I say.

She nods and looks to the ground, "well at least you're alive." She says.

I nod.

"Well," she says, "why don't you take a load off? I'll fix you guys something to eat." She says.

I nod, "that would be great." I say.

I walk into the living room and see that things have changed dramatically since I was last here. Papers are scattered across the table, toys strewn all over the floor, and news articles stacked as tall as me.

I hear Calvin enter the room with Piper.

"Here you guys go. It's just some salsbury steak, but I figured you'd eat anything right about now with the way you look." She says.

"Who lives here?" I ask ignoring her statement.

"Oh, well I didn't want your place to go to anyone else, so I started paying rent, but then me and Nat decided to move in until you got back if that's alright. It's just so cramped at the old place and Nat needed a real bed." She explains.

I nod my head, "no that's perfectly fine. I probably would have told you to do that anyways if I knew I was leaving sooner." I tell her.

She nods and we both sit at the table. Calvin, however, doesn't.

"Calvin, get out of your power armor and join us." I tell him.

"Uhh, no. Thanks anyways." He says.

"Get your ass over here and eat." I say.

He sighs in annoyance and begins to exit his power armor.

I turn back around and start eating, and he eventually joins us, wearing his sunglasses however.

"What are you wearing those for?" I ask him confused.

"I have a migraine. The light doesn't help." He explains.

I nod and we continue to eat.

We eat and talk for hours. We swap stories about our adventures we've had over the past year. We joke and laugh at each other. But all the while, Calvin is silent in his own little world. Every now and again, I catch him watching me with a smirk on his face, but once he realizes that I've noticed, he immediately looks away.

Finally, after spending the rest of the day with Piper, we decide to leave.

"Well blue, where are ya headed?" She asks.

"The predwyn. She has some explaining to do with Maxson." Calvin answers.

I look at him but he glares at me.

"Yea, we should probably get back." I say.

Piper chuckles and nods, "okay you two, be safe."

I nod and she comes over and hugs me and then Calvin before we leave home plate.

We walk up the stairs of the dugout and once we are outside of the gates, Calvin throws a signal grenade. We wait a few moments before a vertibird appears and lands in front of us. We both climb in and make our short trip to the Predwyn.

VVVVVVVVV

"I'm surprised it's still here." I say after me and knight Calvin exit the vertibird.

"Yeah well, they still aren't done here." He says.

"Yea, I don't think they'll be finished here for a while." I say.

We reach the door that leads inside when we are met with lancer captain kells.

"Knight." He says but then is surprised when he looks at me.

"Rogers." He says with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"I'm sorry for my disappearance sir." I tell him.

"Apology accepted. I'm just glad to see you after so long." He says smiling.

"You too. So, I expect Maxson wants to see me." I say.

"Why yes, he would. As well as you knight." He says to Calvin.

"Will do cap." He says saluting him with two fingers.

"What have I said about your attitude." He says scolding him.

"Basically that it sucks." Calvin answers.

I hear kells grumble something before gesturing for us to follow him. I laugh and look over at Calvin smiling and he just shakes his head chuckling as well.

We follow Kells over to the bridge where Maxson is looking out over the commonwealth like always.

"Elder Maxson," Kells says, "we found the sentinel."

Maxson turns slowly and I can almost see a smile on his face.

"Rogers, you've returned." He says.

"Yup, did ya miss me maxi?" I ask teasing him.

"Well, not as much as I thought I did, now." He says joking back subtley.

I chuckle and shake my head.

"So, I assume the Knight here has informed you of your promotion and the events that have followed?" Maxson asks.

"As much as he needed to." I answer.

"Good. And now that you're back, we have some pressing matters to discuss about the future of our chapter." He says.

"Sir if I may," Calvin interrupts.

"Proceed."

"Sir, we've been on a very long trip and she just got back after being on her own for a year. I think she needs some time to clear her head before getting into that." He says.

Maxson is silent for a moment while thinking it over before nodding, "Very well. But I want to hear from you in no longer than two days. I'll hunt you down myself if I must." He says.

I nod, "yes sir."

"Good. Dismissed." He says saluting us.

We both salute back and begin to walk away.

"Oh and good work Maccready." He says before we can make it to the latter.

I freeze in place and look to my side, "Robert?"


	5. Welcome Home: Chapter 4

"Honey please, just hear me out." Maccready says as he follows me to my room in the Predwyn.

I walk through the predwyn looking for the only think that motivated me to come here in the first place, my son. He may be a synth, but he's still my son. I look everywhere, all while maccready follows. Finally, after a half an hour searching, I give up and turn around.

"Where is he?" I ask Maccready crossing my arms.

"Who?" He asks.

I walk a step closer to him, "my son, Mac." I say.

He sighs and looks away from me.

"What? You told me he was here, yet I'm standing here and shaun is yet to be seen. So where. The fuck. Is my son?" I ask taking another step forward.

"He isn't here." He says scratching the back of his neck.

My arms fall to my side and the look of confusions is plastered on my face.

"What?" I say gritting my teeth.

"I'm sorry." He says.

"Then where the hell is he?" I yell.

"That's the question we're still trying to find an answer to." He says not looking at me.

"Wait, so my son is missing? Again?!" I yell with venom in my tone.

He nods his head, "yes, I'm so sorry. We've been trying to find him for months, but there are not traces of him or his kidnappers." He tells me.

I smack him across the face and walk away from him and straight to elder maxson on the flight deck.

"You better have a damn good explanation as to why my son is yet again, taken from me." I tell him.

He sighs and looks away, "Sentinel Rogers, I'm so sorry about this kidnapping of your son, again. I have blamed myself all these months for allowing this to happen, especially to the son of one of the best soldiers I have. But we are actively investigating the case of your missing son, and you have my word that we will find the boy." He says with sincerity and guilt.

"You damned well better." I tell him.

I begin to walk away when he grabs my shoulder and turns me around grabbing on to me, "Ellie, I truly am sorry." He says looking me in the eyes.

I shake his hands off my shoulders and walk away, back to my room.

When I get there, I shut the door gently and break down. I fall to my knees and begin to slam the floor with my fist in anger until my hand begins to bleed. I get up and yell and cuss while throwing things across the room. Broken glass and miscellaneous items are strewn across the room, with me sobbing and bleeding in the middle of it. I go through my pip-boy until I find my whiskey and choose it. The pip-boy generates it into my hand as it was designed to do and I frantically screw the top off and take a swig of the alcohol.

It burns as it goes down my throat, but each sip makes me desire more. Sip after sip, and the bottle is empty, and my problems have gone away.

I barely remember getting another bottle and taking a few sips before passing out in the middle of my chaos.

VVVVVVVV

I wake up with a pounding headache. I look around to find my bottle but find that I'm in the infirmary aboard the prydwen. I look to my left and see Knight-Captain Cade going through boxes of various medical items in the corner.

I try to stand up from the bed, but Cade notices that I'm awake and rushes over to set me back down.

"Whoa there. Take it easy now. You had quite an amount if alcohol last night and you're looking rough." He tells me.

I shake my head and push him out of the way.

"I need to go see Maxson for my assignment." I tell him and walk out of the room and to the flight deck.

On my way there, I bump into Maccready. He stops me and puts a hand on my arm that I immediately shake off.

"What do you want?" I ask him in anger.

"How're you feeling?" He asks.

"It isn't your concern." I tell him and walk away.

I go to the command deck and salute to Elder Maxson.

"Sentinel Rogers reporting for duty sir." I tell him.

"At ease Sentinel." He says.

I relax but put my hands behind my back and wait for him to give me my assignment.

 _Just give me something to keep my mind off of shaun._ I say in my mind.

"Sentinel, I understand that you spent the night in the infirmary last night. I would advise you to take a day off and rest. The news can wait until tomorrow." He says.

"No sir." I say shaking my head, "I would much prefer getting back to it." I say.

"Rogers, getting so drunk until you pass out isn't good for your health. Now I can assure you that we will find shaun." He tells me.

"Please." I say closing my eyes, "just give me the assignment." I tell him.

He sighs, "very well, but know that I am her to talk if you need me. We're still friends, at least I hope we are." He says.

"Recent events are making me question our friendship." I tell him, "Now please, get on with it." I say.

He shakes his head, "well, our chapter has encountered a group that we've encountered in the past. They are known as the enclave." He says.

"The Enclave is a post war U.S. military group gone corrupt. They are a threat." He says.

"What sort of a threat?" I ask.

"Well, at least ten years ago, they tried to take over project purity, a project intended to purify the waters of the D.C. Wasteland. They, however, wanted to use it as a way to 'purify' the wasteland itself. They wanted to kill the imperfect and repopulate with their idea of a 'pure' people." He says.

"So did they do it?" I ask.

"No, they were stopped luckily. They were hunted down for years after that, but they managed to regroup out west somewhere and want to take out the brotherhood once and for all and continue with their original plan." He says.

"Huh, sounds like dé ja vú." I say, "so how'd you find out?" I ask him.

"MacCready ran into them a few months back while on his search for you. They offered to help him but once they found out he was brotherhood, they tried to kill him. So, in order to protect him, we created a fake name for him and changed his look so he wouldn't be recognized." He tells me.

I nod my head, "that makes sense." I say, "so where do I come in?" I ask him.

"We are going to send you out west with a small recon team and you will relay with the California brotherhood chapter. They are small, but we hope that it will help you and your team go undetected." He says.

I nod my head, "okay. When do we leave?" I ask.

"In a day. Your team has already been assembled. Go meet with them and make sure they're ready, as well as yourself." He says handing me a piece of folded up paper, "come back tomorrow morning once you and your team are ready. You ship out by noon tomorrow." He says.

I nod my head and salute, "Ad Victoriam Elder."

He returns the salute, "Ad Victoriam, dismissed."

I relax and walk to the main deck to meet my crew. I look at the paper and see a list of five names, including Maccready's.

 _Goddammit Maxson_ , I say in my head.

I decide that he will be the last one that i'll see.

I walk to the upper level living quarters and look around for my team. I look to my left and see recruit Meader packing a backpack. He is a black haired teenager no older than 19 with a small build. I walk over to him and clear my throat, interrupting his packing. He looks up and clumsily stands up and salutes.

"Ma'am." He says.

"Relax. I'm not Maxson, you don't have to salute for me." I say.

He relaxes but still looks timid, "sorry ma'am, I just really wanna do good. I was born into the brotherhood and I just wanna do my part." He says.

I chuckle, "well don't worry recruit, I was just coming in to check on you and make sure you're ready for tomorrow." I say.

"Of course ma'am." He says.

"Stop calling me ma'am. You make me feel like I'm 230 years old." I say chuckling.

"But you are." He says.

I immediately give him a look.

"I'll just shut up." He says looking away.

I shake my head, "as long as you do that, I think you'll be fine." Giving him a pat on the back and walking away to another set of bunks.

On the opposite side of the room, I find two knights on my team. Knight Cade, and Knight Masters. Cade is a red haired woman working on a set of power armor beside her bed, and Masters is a blonde haired man watching her with a smile on his face.

Masters notices my approach and throws a glove at Cade. She turns around and nods her head in acknowledgment.

"Sup boss." She says and turns around and continues to work on her power armor.

Masters chuckles, "you'll have to excuse my girlfriend here. She is practiced in the art of not giving a shit." He says.

I laugh, "no it's fine. If anything, humor is most certainly welcome." I say.

Cade laughs, "thank god." She says.

"So," I say, "are you related to Knight-Captain Cade?" I ask her.

"Yea, he's my uncle. My parents were killed at the battle for project purity when I was a baby. He's been taking care of me all my life." She says.

"Wow, he's an amazing man." I say.

"Yeah, he is. But of course, he's concerned for me leaving." She tells me.

I laugh, "well I would be too if my daughter were leaving for something like this." I say.

She just laughs.

"Well he's got nothing to worry about because I'm here to take care of you." Masters says.

She looks at him with all the love in the world, "I know." She says.

I smile and shake my head, "well, I got to get away from all this sappiness. I'll see you two tomorrow." I say.

They both laugh, "alright." Masters answers for the both of them.

 _Three down, two to go._ I say in my head.

I look all around the prydwen before I find the fourth team member, Paladin shire, in the mess hall eating some fancy lad snack cakes. He is a tall, muscular, greying haired man about in his fifties. I walk over and sit down beside him and he looks at me with a confused look on his face.

"Can I help you?" He asks with a deep, rough voice.

"I'm sentinel rogers. I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you're ready for tomorrow." I say.

"Ahh, so the runaway has finally returned." He says.

"Excuse me?" I ask.

"Look, it's bad enough that I'm going to be shipped to the middle of nowhere with a clumsy recruit, two annoying knights and a lone wolf sniper, but now I'm stuck with you." He says looking at me with all the hate in the world, "do me a favor, and don't worry about me." He says.

"Look, I had some things to sort out. That's why I left. But I'm here now and ready to serve." I say defending myself.

"Oh yeah? Well where were you when your son was taken?" He asks.

I clench my fists and grit my teeth, but decide to let it go, "be ready tomorrow." Is all I say before I walk away.

Finally I seek out Maccready which, by no surprise at all, is at the forecastle. He is sitting down with his legs crossed, overlooking the commonwealth. He turns around and looks at me, and I just look at him.

We sit in silence for who knows how long until he finally turns back around and looks at his feet. He brings a bottle of whiskey up to his lips and takes a sip. I see a tear escape his eye before he throws the bottle off the balcony and to the earth below.

"It's duncan's birthday today." He says.

I walk over and sit beside him, crossing my legs and looking at him, waiting for him to continue.

"He would have been three today." He says with another tear escaping his eye.

"Would have been?" I ask confused.

He looks at me in pain, "the caravan never made it." He says.

Realization hits me as to what he's implying.

 _Duncan is dead._

A tear escapes my eye and I bring him into my embrace and he begins to sob uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry." I say.

He shakes his head and holds onto me desperately.

"It's all my fault." He says.

I shake my head, "no it isn't. You did everything you could. Just know that Duncan is with lucy now. She's taking good care of him. They will always be with you." I tell him.

He nods and eventually stops crying. He lets me go and wipes his face dry while taking deep breaths.

"I'm sorry. I know we aren't on the best of terms right now. I just needed to tell someone." He says.

I make him look at me and I shake my head, "it's okay. I understand what you're going through, and I'm here for you if you need me." I say.

He nods and looks out to the commonwealth again.

"We should get some sleep." I tell him.

He nods, "yeah, okay."

We stand and walk into the prydwen.

Once we get to the living quarters, We stop at his bunk. I look over at him and see a distant look on his face and think back to how I had no one to help me through Nate's death in the beginning.

 _He shouldn't be left alone._ I think to myself.

I grab his hand and drag him downstairs to my room. I close the door and bring him over to the bed and tell him to lay down.

"But this is your room." He says.

"Well I know that. I just don't want you to have to be alone through this. I know how that feels." I say.

I lay down on one side of the bed and hesitantly, he lays down on the other faced away from me. I close my eyes and try to sleep but it never comes. Hours pass by like this, yet I still can't sleep. I turn my head and see that he's messing with the seam of the mattress. I turn over and face him and he looks at me with confusion. I turn him over so he's laying on his back and lay my head down on his chest and he wraps his arms around me.

"I'm sorry." I tell him.

"For what?" He asks.

"For getting angry with you. I know you were busy with finding me and you would have done anything to keep shaun from getting kidnapped." I say.

"It's okay." He says.

"I love you." I say.

"I love you too." He answers, "and we'll find shaun. I promise." He says.

I nod, "I sure hope so."

He kisses my forehead and rubs my back, "I know we will."

I nod and we both, eventually, find sleep.


	6. Welcome Home: Chapter 5

I jolt awake from my most recent nightmare. I look around the room and find that everything on the prydwen is still very quiet. I turn in the bed and sit sideways with my feet hanging off the side. The most recent nightmare is the same as always, Nate hating me for killing our son.

I rise from the bed and head to the showers. I strip down and turn on the hot water and let it fall in blissful beads across my body. When I close my eyes, I see his face. That stupid smirk that was painted across it every morning when I woke up with him, then it changes into pure hatred and fear. I open my eyes and shake my head, desperate to shake the image from my head.

I tell myself and others that i've moved on, and that what I did was completely justified, but I don't believe it. I want to. I want to be able to look myself in a mirror and say that they have forgiven me for the things that i've done, but I just can't. It is impossible.

Once I am clean, I turn the shower off and dry myself off and get dressed before heading back to the room. Once i'm inside, I see that Maccready is awake and has placed two plates with food on them at the table in front of him. He looks at me with a smile and gestures for me to sit down across from him.

"C'mon, you should eat somethin' before we head off." He says.

I nod and sit down in front of him and begin to eat. A few minutes of silence passes before Maccready finally says something.

"How'd you sleep?" He asks.

"Same as always, like shit." I say only looking at my food.

He doesn't say anything which makes me look up at him. I'm met with a look of both confusion and hurt.

"No offense, but it's been a while since I've had someone to sleep beside. I'm used to being on my own." I say.

He nods, "I know how you feel. I was on my own for a long time after I left the capital wasteland. When we got together, it took a while for me to adjust to being next to you. But having you close to me makes me happier than I've ever been before." He says with a smile.

I smile back, "you're such a sap." I say.

"I try." He says shrugging his shoulders and I just chuckle and shake my head.

We continue to eat and finish out breakfast and clean up before going down to the command deck for a briefing before we head out. When we arrive, I see that my squad has already assembled and has been waiting on us.

"Well surprise surprise, the sentinel and mr. depressed boy have finally decided to show up." Paladin Shire says.

"Shire!" Maxson booms, "your outburst is noted and unless you want to be brought up on charges, you will show respect to your fellow squad mates. Am I understood?!" He says in a commanding voice.

You can see shire visibly show defeat and regain his composure, "yes sir. Understood." He says.

"Good, now onto your assignment. Today, you will be making history. You will be shipped out west in the pursuit of the Enclave and you will be expected to take them down. However, before you set your sights on taking the fight straight to them, you're going to have to help the california chapter of the brotherhood before hand. They are small and weak. They need to be built up and trained again in order to take out our target." He says, "your objecive as a squad is to brief them of the situation at hand and to take the correct measures to ensure our victory. Am I understood?" He asks.

"Yes sir!" We all call in unison.

"Good. And before you are dismissed, I want you all to understand that we all know of the great sacrifice you all are making, and that we all salute and respect you for putting yourselves in danger. My only off record request is that you be safe. I want to see each and every one of your faces at your homecoming party." He says with a smile.

"I'll ensure their safety Elder," I say, "you have my word."

He nods, "good. Now, go get ready, and good luck. Ad Victoriam!" He says saluting.

"Ad Victoriam!" We all say saluting back.

We all walk away and to our respective rooms to go pack. Maccready follows me to my room and closes the door.

"Man, it almost seems like he actually cares about us." He says.

"He does." I say seriously.

"Pfff, yeah right. He's the type to only care about the mission." Maccready says.

"No, he isn't. I've spent many of nights sharing a drink with him, and he's human, just like us. The night I returned from Danses execution, he invited me to his room for a drink, and as soon as he closed the door, he was immediately overcome with guilt. He talked about how he didn't want it to resort to that, but he had to put the safety of the entire ship first. For all we knew, the institute could have been getting all kinds of info from him. But he truly does care about us. I've been helping him ever since then with his leadership and guiding him on how things should be handled, minus my disappearance of course, and I can tell that he's listened." I tell him as I pack my bag.

A few moments of silence follow.

"So.." he says after a moment, "all you two did was drink huh?" He asks.

I chuckle, "are you serious? I go through all that sappy shit and that's what you get from it?" I ask.

"It's a fair question." He says putting his hands up in mock defense.

I shake my head, "fine. No, there was nothing other than drinking. I love you too much to do something horrible like kiss another man." I say turning completely to him.

He slowly makes his way over to me with a smirk firmly planted on his face as he places his hands on my waist.

"Well I was going something more along the lines of something more than kissing but hey, I'll take your innocent little mind over my gutter head any day." He says.

I wrap my arms around him and kiss him gently, "knucklehead." I call him.

We share another soft and long kiss. His lips are soft and his touch is electric. It causes goosebumps to show and a shiver to travel down my spine. My heart rate increases and my breathing more shallow as things get more heated, but I stop us before things go too far.

"We need to get ready." I say out of breath.

He nods with his eyes still closed and a smile on his face, "okay."

We part and I turn to finish packing. Maccready leaves to go pack his bags as well.

In my bag are the essentials. Clothes, hygiene accessories, etc. But I also pack some things that are near and dear to my heart. I pack a picture of me, Nate, and Shaun that we took after he was born. It reminds me of what i'm fighting for, family. I also pack the wooden toy soldier that Maccready gave me what seems like ages ago. I remember when he gave it to me. He had opened up to me about his life and everything that has happened to him. It broke my heart to hear that he wanted to die along with his wife. I could never imagine a life without this man.

Once I finish packing everything into a bag, I press some buttons on my pip-boy that allows it to be virtually condensed in bulk and it dissappears before my eyes. I grab a modded laser rifle and sling it across my back for easy access and head down to the Virtibird that's on standby.

I sit here and wait for a few minutes for my team and once they all arrive and are ready, we wave goodbye to the ones who've shown up to send us off, including Maxson, and board the virtibird. Before I board however, I run over to Maxson and hand him a paper with a list of names.

"Can you get in contact with the people on this list and let them know where I am?" I ask loudly over the virtibirds roaring engines.

"Of course!" He yells back.

"And one more thing, the dog on the list needs to be put in the care of someone on this list until I return." I say.

"We'll see that it's done! Now, be safe sentinel! I want to see you and your squad again in the future." He yells.

"Of course! Ad Victoriam Arthur!" I yell.

"Ad Victoriam Ellie." He answers and I nod and board the virtibird.

Once we take off, Maccready grabs my hand and intertwines his fingers with mine. I look at him and smile and he reflects it back to me. I look over to Cade and she has a smile across her face as well as she watches us.

She clears her throat and her face turns serious again, "so sentinel, we never got the story on you. What made you get into this?" She asks, "the brotherhood I mean."

"Well ever since I was young, I've always wanted to enlist in the army. My parents wouldn't let me of course, they always told me that they couldn't bare the thought of loosing their little girl. But I always hated them for it. They let my two brothers enlist and not me, and that's what really got me." I say shaking my head, "anyways, I figured as a fallback, I could be a police officer. And in the days and age that I lived in, having a college education was everything. So, I went to college down in virginia, near Norfolk where I got a degree in law, specifically law enforcement. From that day foreword, I swore to protect the citizens of the united states no matter what. So, that's what I'm doing. It may not be called the united states anymore but you're all still born on American soil, therefore you are all red blooded Americans. So I will protect anyone who threatens to do harm to anyone, such as the Enclave." I finally finish.

They all nod except Shire, who looks out at the landscape below.

"Well then we'll follow you, to the grave if we have to." Cade says.

"I mean, I would prefer we not, but you know it's whatever." Masters says.

We all chuckle and await the our arrival and the start of our new assignment.

 **VVVVVVVVVVVV**

 **Hey, it's The Sentinel here, I hope you like the direction I'm taking this story and these characters. I've been thinking long and hard on how I want this story to go and so far, I think I'm doing fairly okay. And as always, feel free to leave a comment on your thoughts or suggestions and even message me if you'd prefer, I'll try to respond as soon as possible. And thank you so much for checking out my story, it means a lot.**

 **Thanks again!**

 **-The Sentinel**


	7. Welcome Home: Chapter 6

It takes a few stops for refueling at way stations to get to our destination, but we got there. I don't really know what I expected. I've never been west before, so imagining it in ruins is difficult. But what I was faced with was so much worse that anything I could have possibly imagined.

Lands that were once home to many farms and prairies now held broken cities, pools of radiation, and huge monstrosities that lurk around in my broken nation. America's well known cities are now leveled and partially put back together. The deserts were littered with destroyed highways and little hometowns. Scorched cars litter the baked earth like little ants. And when we land, we are met with a barren wasteland. Even more bare than the commonwealth.

If I had to pick one word to describe the scene before me, I would pick depressing. A whole nation once covered in patriotism and life is now stripped and replaced with depression and death. But it makes me wonder just how much of the world looks like this. I wonder if other nations and continents were spared of this burden we have to bare. I wonder if china had to face the same fate as us. In all honesty, I hope they didn't. I wouldn't wish this upon anyone, no matter who they were.

I think about all the lives that have been lost because of our past, but then I think of all the lives that are here now. All the families that I've seen and met. I think of how someday, I might could have that family too. Me, Maccready, and Shaun, all one happy family. That's all that I want now. But I know that if i'm not successful in this mission, then that will never happen.

Once we've reached our destination, on the boarder of california and nevada, we begin to unload our belongings. My squad is exhausted from the trip. It didn't take too long. Maybe a day? But no one has slept at all in that amount of time. So I begin to formulate a plan to get us in a safe spot to hunker down and rest up.

Once we get all of our belongings and supplies, the vertibird leaves us. It's new destination is the closest way station to await our completion of the mission. Once our objective is complete, he will be our ride home, if we survive that long. We have no idea of what we're up against, and how we are to defeat them. But I don't plan on loosing any of my squad mates. I'd take a bullet for any of them.

The first and only thing I can register at this moment, is the heat. I've never been faced with this kind of heat. I've always lived in places where the heat only got up to the upper 90's maybe. But this kind of heat is at least in the lower 100's. Enough to dehydrate you by just standing.

I quickly take in my surroundings and decide that a town off in the far distance. It's at least an hours walk from our current location, but it at least has houses that we can hold up in for the night.

I point to the town, "look," I say, "there's a town, we can hold up there for the night." I tell them.

"How long will that take?" Recruit Meader asks.

"Eh, no more than maybe an hour to an hour and a half." I say.

He shrugs his shoulders and scoffs, "oh, of course. It's only just going to take an hour to and hour and a half. No big deal." He says sarcastically.

"Meader, was that sarcasm in your tone that I just heard?" Knight Cade asks him jokingly with a playful punch to the arm.

"Ow." He says.

"Baby." She says with a chuckle.

I shake my head and smile, "well, it'll only take longer if you two keep fuckin' around. C'mon, let's get a move on." I say chuckling.

"Yes ma'am!" I hear Meader answer.

"Meader, what I tell you about that? Cut that ma'am shit out." I say.

"Oh, right. Gotcha." He says in a softer tone.

I shake my head and we head for the town. After at least ten minutes of walking, I feel a hand slip into mine. I smile and squeeze it. It squeezes back, and we continue to walk.

"Ya know, I was thinking that after this is all over and done with, we could finally settle down. Build something together." I say.

"Mmhmm." I hear a deeper than expected tone of voice answer.

I look over in confusion and am met with knight Masters smiling and I immediately let go.

"What the fuck man!" I say.

That's when everyone busts out laughing, except for paladin shire of course. Even Maccready is laughing. Actually, he's the one laughing the hardest.

"What's with you?" I ask him as him and Masters swap places with each other.

"I thought it was funny." He says.

"Oh you did now did you?" I say with a fake amused face on.

"Yea, just a little bit. I'm the one who devised that whole scheme actually." He says proudly.

"Oh, because that makes me feel better." I say rolling my eyes.

He chuckles and slips his hand in mine, "oh come on, it was just a joke. I wanted to see your reaction." He says.

"And were you satisfied?" I ask.

"Yes, very much so. I'm just happy that you always assume it's me who shows you affection." He explains.

"Well, at least you know i'm loyal." I say.

"Never doubted you for a moment." He says.

I shake my head at his mischief. He can be such a pain in the ass when he wants to be. He squeezes my hand, and I squeeze back.

"Well, as I was saying to Masters apparently, I was thinking that once we get finished with this, we could finally settle down. You know, after we finish kickin' ass and find my son." I say.

He nods, "I think that's a good plan. Just me, you, and shaun." He says smiling and looking at me.

"Yea, I think I might try the farming thing like I said I would to the abernathy's." I say.

"Yea, something calm and slow. I like it." He says.

I nod, "okay then. Now all we gotta do is defeat the enclave and find shaun." I say.

He laughs, "yea, easy peasy, lemon squeezy." He says then chuckles.

"Lemme guess, you've always wanted to say that?" I ask.

"Yea." He says in the middle of him laughing.

I just shake my head and we continue on our course.

VVVVVVVVV

When we reach the outskirts of the town, we see soldiers guarding the perimeter. They wear brown colored uniforms with what looks like the california state flag as their mark. The letters say NCR, which I have no idea what it stands for.

I signal for them to get down behind a patch of rocks to the left of us. We all head over there and I turn to speak to them.

"You all stay here, I'll go talk to them." I say.

"No." Maccready says grabbing my wrist.

"Relax, i'll be all civilized and stuff." I tell him. I plant a kiss on his cheek and head over to the soldiers.

Once they spot me, they raise their guns to point at me and I put my hands up.

"Stop right there!" The holler at me and I do as they say.

"State your business!" One of them yells.

"I am Sentinel Rogers of the Brotherhood of Steel! We are here in peace." I say.

"Walk slowly towards us." They say.

I do as they say and when I reach them, they turn me around and tie my hands together and make me kneel on the ground. One of them keeps their gun to my head while the other searches me for weapons. He stops once he finds my holotags. He looks at them for a moment before looking and nodding to the other. They bring me to my feet and untie my hands.

"Sorry, we have to take precautionary measures for our safety. You understand i'm sure." One says.

"Of course." I tell them as I dust myself off.

"So, where is your squad?" One asks.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." I tell them.

"Oh come on now, don't give me that shit. We know that you and your people never travel alone." He says.

"And how do you know that?" I ask.

"Because dipshit, we are allies. Ever since the second war at hover dam, we've been allied with them to help control the mojave and to fight the legion. Well, them and the enclave. But it's all thanks to the courier." He says.

Then, someone appears from behind the gate, "did someone say my name?"

He is a heavily muscled, tall, blonde haired man. His hair is cut short and he has not too long of a darker toned beard. I notice that he is dressed differently, however, than the rest of the NCR soldiers. His uniform is made up of a black overcoat with harder armor underneath and jeans along with a utility belt. He has a sniper rifle strapped to his back and what I also notice, is his pip-boy on his arm.

"Who's this?" He asks.

"Sentinel Rogers." I say offering my hand for him to shake.

He takes it firmly and I give a firm grip back, "Max. What are you here for?" He asks.

"Nice to meet you Max. I am a Sentinel with the Brotherhood of Steel and we are here on a special assignment. We just need a place to rest up, that's all." I say.

"And what is this special assignment exactly?" He asks.

"It's classified." I say plainly.

"Oh come on, don't give me that 'it's classified' crap. Believe me, I completely understand the whole secrecy thing, but come on now, you wouldn't hide things from a fellow brother would you? Of course if you do though, then that's understandable. If you wanna keep your secrets about your special assignment then I guess I can keep the secret on where the California brotherhood chapter is." He tells me in a mocking tone as he turns to walk away.

"Wait!" I say as I grab his shoulder.

He turns around with a smirk on his face, "well?" He says.

"Fine, but allow us to come in and find a spot to rest first and we can tell you whatever we know, but it needs to be done privately." I say glancing at the ncr guards.

He nods, "as you wish. Come on, let me show you to your place." He says.

I nod and turn around and whistle. I see Maccready's head pop up from behind the rocks and I gesture for them to follow. He nods and they all stand and run over to us. Once they are here, Max shows us inside.

"Welcome to Nipton."

VVVVVVVVV

 **Hey, it's the sentinel. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. I hope i'm doing a good job with this story and if I'm not then let me know what you don't like and I'll see what I can do. As always, any type of feedback is always appreciated and thank you again!**

 **-The Sentinel**


	8. Welcome Home: Chapter 7

We stand in the middle of town square. There are little carts with various fruits. People walk the square and hold conversations like they did before the war. I smile at the thought. It's nice to know that not everywhere is completely fucked.

We head into the main building and Max takes us to an office off to the side. We all crowd in to the small office and he sits down behind the desk.

"So, you all have come a long way just for one little mission. Especially since you're such a small squad. So, what's the deal?" He asks.

"Well, as you may know, there is a presence of a military like organization called the enclave that has decided to settle down here. And in the past, the enclave and the brotherhood were not exactly buddies. In fact, they waged war against each other in the capital wasteland. But now they've regrouped, and we want to know why and what their plans are." I tell him.

"So why not bring your whole chapter?" He asks.

"Because, while our chapter of the brotherhood is much larger than California's, it would be like putting a huge sign up saying 'hey, we're not here to play nice!' Therefore, the logical resolution was to send me along with a small squad and collaborate with this chapter on how we are to take them out." I tell him.

He nods his head in understanding, "okay, I'm in." He says plainly.

"What?" I ask in confusion.

"I said I'm in. Look, it's no secret that they've regrouped here. They aren't exactly quiet about their presence. They've been terrorizing the locals and over taking their farms for more control over the region. Them along with the legion. With both of them coming at us from the north and west, and we will cease to exist and the locals will as well. And the NCR wants to put an end to it. So, I think the NCR and the brotherhood will have a good relationship, don't you think?" He asks.

"I sure hope so. You think your superiors will agree?" I hear maccready ask from behind me.

"Oh yeah, absolutely." He says.

I nod, "well then if we can talk to them as soon as possible then that would be great." I tell him, "but I think we need some time to rest. We've had a long flight."

He nods with a smile, "no worries. We always have a few houses open. There are a few down main street and to the left that should be big enough. Feel free to make yourselves at home." Max tells us.

"Thank you." I say.

"Anything for my brothers and sisters." He says.

I nod smiling and we walk out of the office and then the building. We walk down the road and to the left and find the houses Max was talking about. We randomly pick one and head inside.

The house has two bedrooms with a kitchen and a living room. I insist for my team to take the bedrooms but they let me and maccready and Cade and Masters take the bedrooms. The other two get to decide on the couch, which in all honesty, shire is going to get it.

Me and maccready settle in to our room and peel off our sweaty armor and uniform to replace them with more loose fitting and comfortable clothes. Then, we lay down to settle in for the night.

As we lay there, Maccready rubs circles on the top of my wrist, and I just think. I think of what is to come. About how we are to do this, and when it will end. I think about how we might not even survive this and how I may never even see my son again.

"Hey." Maccready says pulling me out of my own mind, "what's wrong?" He asks.

"Just thinkin'." I say.

"Then why are you all tense?" He asks.

"I'm just-" i say as I sit up and lean against the wall and so does he, "what if I never see my son again. I mean I know he isn't all human, but he's still my son no matter what. He will still grow, and think, and sound like my son." I tell him.

"Of course you will see him again. I'll make sure of it." He says wrapping his arm around my waist.

"And what if I never see him again. Mac, I don't know if I can lose him again. I don't think I could handle it." I tell him worriedly.

He turns me so i'm facing him and he looks me in the eyes, "Ellie, I promise you that we will see shaun again. Maxson will be good on his word and they will find him. I know it." He assures me.

"You think so?" I ask him.

"Yup, and we'll go home, make a whole new life. We could start up a farm like you said and watch shaun tinker on the porch as we watch the sunset." He tells me.

"He tinkers?" I ask.

"Yea, he used to help proctor ingram with small repairs or modding some weapons. He got really good." He tells me.

I smile, "what a smart boy. I can't wait to see what he'll become." I say leaning in to Maccready as he brings me in to an embrace.

"Me either." He says, "now why don't we get some sleep. I don't know how long a good nights rest will last." He says.

I nod, "okay."

We sink back down into a laying position and slowly fall asleep with his arms wrapped around me and my hand in his.

VVVVVVVVV

It is mid-day of the following day and we are halfway to camp Macarren. Max says that's where we'll find the NCR's president. He tells us that since the NCR has annexed new vegas, the president has set up shop in this camp right next to it.

"So I assume that you guys hold elections?" I ask.

"Yes." Max answers, "we've had two elections since I joined up. President Kimball, the president when I first joined, was assassinated by the legion before the second war for hover dam." He says with a chuckle.

"Why are you laughin' boy?" Shire says, "was it your ignorance that got your republics president killed?" He says smartly.

"Huh what? I'm sorry, I can't hear you, it's too bright outside." Max says jokingly.

We hear Shire grumble in annoyance.

"And no, believe it or not. The Legion had a sharpshooter that took him out. We couldn't find him in time." Max says, "but it isn't like we suffered a great loss or anything. Kimball was bad for the NCR. He annexed territories quicker than our budget or army could keep up. Supplies, money, and troops ran too thin. So, you know, oh well." He says.

"So what happened after that?" I hear Masters ask.

"Well after Kimball's assassination, we held an election of the next four ranking officers in line for the presidency. They voted in Chief Hanlon, the commander of the NCR Rangers. But once put in to office, he respectfully declined the position saying that he belonged with the rangers, not somewhere so high up." He says, "so naturally we held another election, and the people voted colonel, now president, James Hsu as the president. So now here we are." He tells us.

"And how's he been?" I hear Maccready ask.

"Oh he's been great. He takes on more of a president tandi role than a president kimball." He says.

We all look at max confused.

"Oh sorry. He's more focused on rebuilding infrastructure and economy than expanding." Max explains.

We all nod in understanding.

"And president hsu will help us?" I ask.

"Yea, of course. Me and him are pretty good friends so I can read him and know what he wants. And trust me, right now, he wants to go after the enclave." Max says with a smirk.

"And what about the legion? You said they were after you guys too." Maccready says.

"Yes but since the death of ceasar and the defeat at hover dam, they've grown weaker. Right now, the enclave is the biggest threat." Max says.

Me and Maccready nod.

We continue on for a few more minutes before Max stops us at a broken down old building.

"We can rest here. Take some time to rest up. It won't be too much longer before we get there." Max says.

I nod and gesture for the squad to go inside. The follow my orders and establish a little camp underneath the broken floor to the second level of the old building.

We all sit in a circle snacking on some chips or snack cakes and sip on water. Cade and Masters are laughing and joking with each other as usual. Max is talking with Maccready about guns and making caps, and surprisingly, paladin shire and recruit meader are actually talking and sharing a laugh here and there. I smile and decide to go see what that's about.

"Hey." I say as I sit down beside meader.

Shires smile instantly dissappears.

"Hey." Meader answers.

"How're you two holding up?" I ask.

"We're fine." Shire says bitterly.

"Aww come on shire, she's just checking on us." Meader explains.

"Yea well she ain't got to check up on us." He says.

Meader looks at me with guilt, "Sorry. I know you're just trying to help. Meader says.

"No, it's okay." I tell him and he relaxes, "so, do you two have a history or something?" I ask.

"Yea, he's my mentor." Meader says.

I look to paladin shire and he nods, "yea, this little fucker's been under my care for a few months now." He says relaxing a little bit and even showing a small smile.

Meader nods, "yea, he's actually a pretty cool old fart once you get to know him." Meader says and shire shakes his head.

"Smug bastard." Shire says under his breath.

I laugh and shake my head, "alright, well holler if you need anything." I say, and they both nod.

I walk back over to maccready and sit down beside him. He takes my hand in his and we relax for the next few minutes before we have to pack up and leave again.

VVVVVVVVVV

We reach camp maccaran as the sun begins to set and Max takes us to president hsu. We enter his office and he's sitting down at a desk doing paperwork.

"Hsu my main man!" Max says.

Hsu turns around with a smile at the sight of his friend, "max, finally decide to visit?" He asks standing up and embracing max.

When they break apart, max shakes his head and punches hsu in the arm and hsu punches back but harder.

"Fuck man! Not that hard!" Max says rubbing his arm.

Hsu chuckles, "so, who are our visitors?" He asks.

"Well i'm sentinel rogers of the boston chapter of the brotherhood of steel and we've got a proposal for you." I tell him.

"Well alright, sit and tell me about it." Hsu says.

We sit down in the couches and chairs and I begin to explain.

"We need your help to defeat the enclave." I tell him getting right to the point.

"Okay, but i'm going to need more detail." He says.

"Alright, well ten years ago, the brotherhood defeated the enclave in the battle for project purity. Since then, they've regrouped and from what I understand, they are in this area and are terrorizing the local population." I say.

"Yes, they have been taking over farmland and territories for better control of the land." Hsu says.

"Do you know why?" I ask.

"No, we have no further intel." He says.

I nod, "okay, well anyways, our chapter has sent me and my squad to collaborate with the california brotherhood and find a solution. But I'm afraid from what max has said that them alone will not be enough." I say.

Hsu nods, "so you want the ncr's help to defeat them?" He asks.

"Yes, that is my hope." I clarify.

Hsu nods, "well I can tell you that I can definitely see what I can do. It has to got through all the branches of government of course but I think that they will agree completely." He says, "in the meantime however, I think that you should speak with the brotherhood and see how they feel. I still don't know where we stand with them, even all these years after our little spat." He says.

I nod, "okay."

"I can spare a vertibird to take you to hidden valley. At least then it'll be a little easier to get there." He says.

"Thank you. We will be back as soon as we can with news" I tell him.

Hsu nods and smiles, "okay." He says then turns to max, "max, why don't you go with them. You know the brotherhood here. It might help." He says.

Max nods, "of course." He says.

We all say our thank you's and goodbyes before leaving. On the way out, maccready grabs my hand and we intertwine our fingers.

"Do you trust him?" He asks.

"I will if he can pull this off." I say.

He nods and squeezes my hand in comfort, and I do the same.

VVVVVVV

 **Hey, it's the sentinel here. Thank you for reading Welcome Home and supporting it. It means so much to me. I hope you liked this chapter, I know it was long, but I hope it was worth it. Thanks again!**

 **-The Sentinel**


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